Commoditization and marketing of coins as fine art.
HJP
Posts: 423 ✭✭✭
Following is an excerpt of an article I am working on.
I invite constructive criticism and comment.
HJP
Chapter 1) How to gain traction.
Establish a list of standards by which coins, (or medals, stamps, bank notes, sports cards...etc) can be evaluated and identified & therefore, authenticated. All of this information is in the public domain. Good news is, there are credible, capable people in organizations that specialize in this feat that care about this hobby and industry.
Issues of import:
Evaluate coins based on the agreed upon standards, which are (will be...) based on a combination of historical numismatic & related information that has been studied and published to date. This includes the Sheldon scale of coin grading, numerous mint / government publications, scholarly peer reviewed articles & publications and numerous other sources.
Once a consensus (difficult and time consuming, at best) is reached on what elements of a coin, stamp...etc are important. Publish these elements as the standards by which all coins, stamps...etc that are to be “certified”, will be evaluated by. Seek continuous input from those who have demonstrated market knowledge and numismatic expertise. Adjust these “standards” only after critical review and as new information comes to light - ie. becomes relevant. This is and will be an on-going effort.
Teach others to authenticate and grade coins & other forms of art. This skill set has been developed by curious and knowledgeable people over many years. Teaching others this knowledge and encourage excellence and consistency in grading. This is probably the most “relevant” issue of all, if we are to bring our precious hobby out of darkness and into the light of day - unsmudged, not questionably toned, or hidden from view of those who would be deceived.
Key point: Advance this technical knowledge by providing more specific information about a coins identification, quality, and other unique “personality” features... If we want to gain entry into the world of "Fine Art", more needs to be done in this area, and in other areas...
Once a consensus is reached on the features and surface evaluation techniques* to be used, the quantitative and qualitative elements that we choose to use to describe a coin or stamp or other object of art can be established. Publish these elements regularly. This is being done to a degree by the major coin publications & grading companies, but there is significant room for improvement.
*subject of a future discussion, I hope...
There are several tiers of collector interest & they change by category and over the course of time.
We, as collectors, dealers and especially - third party grading companies must adapt to what the market “wants” or become non-relevant, or worse continue to watch the red downward spiral of the prices realized at auction list.
Knowledgeable collectors of older, US and world coins - especially those of significance, tend to focus on a coins surface characteristics (strike, luster, tone, spots & other defects) - this is the basis from which grading standards (ie. Sheldon scale) sprung forth. About 100 years ago. For sake of discussion, and with as little bias as possible, let’s call this “Tier 1”.
Another “Tier” in the hierarchy of coin collecting has come to be defined as the “modern era”. Again, for sake of discussion, let’s define the modern era as the year when gold was no longer used for legal tender in the US, post 1933.
Since the advent of modern coin grading cica 1986, the application of classic coin grading terms and designations - primarily derived from Sheldon’s work, have become the language of the coin business. It’s all about the numbers...
As classic coins began to find their way to the coin grading companies, a new world in the coin universe opened up. A lot of very good things happened quickly (ok, over a few years) that would change the entire dynamic of coin collecting, for the better (mostly). And, as good fortune would have it (to the coin collector - not to the chagrin of most old time coin dealers..), the internet was born and it’s spawn, eBay became relevant. More relevant than any other force in the history of coin collecting - or the world, as it turns out.
The impossible grade of 70 became the standard by which all coins would be subjected to. In classic coins, this was and is, pure poppycock.
The manufacturing techniques of the mints have become so sophisticated and repeatable that coins indeed could be struck that meet this impossible 70 standard - at the point in time the object was subjected to review and grading. Time & subjectivity, withstanding.
The collecting frenzy for certified modern coins really took off in the 1990’s. For a few years, grinding up mint & proof sets and certifying anything put out by the US and then other world mints became a nice profitable business. Anybody with a credit card and eyes could (and still can) buy coins, get them “slabbed” (as the term became known), and hope to the almighty, that some 70’s come your way. Along the way however, a lot of 69 and lower grade modern material was created in the quest for 70 grade (or due to attempts at upgrades to the best possible grade - which renders population reports of all graded coins a big joke, unfortunately).
As more grading companies entered the field, even more lower grade and less desirable material entered the market - that will continue to burden the collector coin market for the foreseeable future. This dearth of less than “desirable”, grade material is not helping create new interest in coin collecting- IMHO. The very existence of this lower grade modern material is causing some financial pain for small and large coin dealers (and wanna be coin dealers, like me;). Mistakes happen. Let’s correct them. More ideas on that later.
Ok, enough for now.
Any thoughts on how I can capture more of the issues that are relevant to you?
Comments
Coins will not be accepted by the high end fine art market. The "eight New York critics" would never approve and they are what counts when it comes to the high end of the art market.
Your goal of standards is indeed admirable, and must be achieved someday....as for coins becoming comparable to fine art, well, that is a lofty objective. A well written post and I will watch the commentary with interest. Cheers, RickO